J.J. Abrams says Star Trek sequel will be shot in 2D but converted into 3D

December 21, 2011 - By Liam Goodwin

When Paramount announced they’d be releasing J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek sequel in May 2013 it was mentioned the movie would be in 3D, giving the assumption Abrams would be shooting his first 3D film. However in a new interview Abrams said he would be shooting in 2D, and converting to 3D during post-production.

“We’re shooting on film, 2D, and then we’ll do a good high-end conversion like the Harry Potter movie and all that. Luckily, with our release date now we have the months needed to do it right, because if you rush it, it never looks good…We were talking about [shooting in IMAX] and I would love to do it. IMAX is my favorite format; I’m a huge fan.”

I had no complaints about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2‘s 3D conversion so if Star Trek 2 ends up with the same quality conversion (or higher) fans should be happy (unless they’d just prefer to see it in 2D instead).

Shooting on the sequel will begin in January and finish in June. Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin and John Cho are all returning, along with new additions Alice Eve and Peter Weller. Carlos actor Edgar Ramirez is currently the frontrunner to play the villain.